Toe construction with run stop and method for circularly knitting same



March 16, 1965 J. w. KAYLOR 3,173,278

TOE CONSTRUCTION wrm RUN STOP AND us'raon FOR cmcuumu KNITTING sms FiledMarch 12, 1962 INVEN TOR.

J'ULE Ml. KAYLOR iZgZM 4110mm: Y

United States Patent TOE CONSTRUCTION WITH RUN STOP AND METHOD FORCIRCULARLY KNITTING SAME .Iuie W. Kaylor, Eilijay, Ga., assignor toChadbou'rn Gotham, Inc., a corporation of North Carolina Filed Mar. 12,1962, Ser. No. 179,008 4 Claims. (Cl. 66-172) This invention relates tothe problem of preventing runs in ladies sheer nylon hose that originatein the toe of the stocking and more particularly to runs starting fromsnags or other damage in the toe.

Heretofore it has been proposed to incorporate at the juncture of thereinforced conventional size toe and the sheer foot of the nylonstocking a special stitch construction to prevent or stop runsoriginating in the toe from extending into the foot and leg portion ofthe stocking. This run stop construction is circularly knitted and mayextend around the entire toe at the toe and foot junction or only acrossthe top of the toe as desired.

In addition to the above mentioned full size reinforced toe sectionheretofore used in ladies nylon hose, there has also been proposed aconstruct-ion known in the trade as Derni-Toe wherein the sheer footportion extends into the top of the toe section to provide a smallersize toe section knitted from the heavier reinforcing yarn for use withladies shoes having a low cut toe or no toe. This type of stockinghaving the reduced size toe is just as susceptible to runs originatingin the toe to extend into the sheer foot and leg portions of thestocking as the other above mentioned hose using the regular full sizetoe. However, due to the shape resulting from the extension of the moresheer foot portion into the top of the toe it has not heretofore beenconsidered feasible to provide a run resistant barrier at the juncturebetween this reduced size toe and the sheer foot portion extension. Toaccomplish this purpose would involve a substantially different knittingprocedure which had not previously been developed before the presentinvention.

In the present invention the toe construction is formed ideally at theouter end of the foot portion extension and extends around the toe atthe edges of the foot portion extension and at the remaining edge of theend of the foot portion. Thus the run barrier provides maximum run stopprotection and yet does not obliterate or interrupt the continuance ofthe sheer appearance from the foot portion into the foot portionextension.

The run barrier construction of the present invention is formed afterthe foot portion continuation is reciprocally knit at the end of thecircularly knit foot portion with a progressive dropping of stitches tobegin the shaping toward the tip of the demi-toe and to provide heldloops at the sides for knitting to the run barrier. In prior stockingsthe reciprocal knitting is continued with heavier yarn to form the toe,whereas in the present invention the reciprocal knitting is stopped atthe end of the foot portion extension and the run barrier is knit aroundthe foot portion and its extension, using circular knitting and pickingup the loops along the sides of the foot portion extension. Theremainder of the toe construction is then knit outwardly of the runbarrier, using reciprocal knitting to the tip of the toe and back to therun barrier under the foot portion extension.

As a result of this construction runs developing in the toe outwardly ofthe run barrier, and particularly those developing in the gore linesproduced by the reciprocal knitting outwardly of the run barrier, areprevented from progressing into the foot and leg portions of thestocking.

The only gore lines formed by this construction and not protected by therun barrier are the relatively short gore lines formed by the knittingof the run barrier to the sides 3,173,2'Z8 Patented Mar lfi, 1965 of thefoot portion extension. These gore lines are much shorter, and thereforeless susceptible to developing runs, than the comparable gore lines ofprior stockings, which extend the major lengthof the toe from the footportion almost to the tip of the toe.

As a result of the above described knitting operation a toe constructionis formed with the foot portion extending into the toe portion toprovide a toe portion of relatively small size and appearance and yethaving a run barrier extending around the toe construction and offset bythe foot portion extension as so to provide the desired barrier againstprogression of runs from the toe into the foot portion but withoutobliterating the continuation appearance of the foot portion.

In the preferred embodiment the run barrier is knit with both therelatively sheer yarn of the foot portion and with a coarser yarn in arun-resistant stitch to provide a strong barrier against progression ofruns. The remainder of the toe construction outwardly of the run barrieris knit with the coarser or heavier yarn of the run barrier to providedesired strength in the toe.

Other and further features and advantages of the present invention willbe apparent from the following description and accompanying drawings inwhich:

FIG. 1 is a side elevational view of a stocking incorporating the toeconstruction of the preferred embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an enlarged side elevational view of the foot and toeconstruction of the stocking of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 3 is an enlarged top plan view of the foot and toe construction ofthe stocking of FIG. 1.

The preferred embodiment of the toe construction of the presentinvention is shown in the drawings incorporated in a circular knitstocking it) of conventional construction except for the toe. Thisstocking is constructed with the conventional welt 12, afterwelt 14, legportion 16, heel 18, foot portion 29, and the unique toe construction 22of the present invention. This toe construction 22 is formed at theouter end 24 of the foot portion 20 which is considered for clarity ofdescription as having a top half 26 and a bottom half 28.

The stocking 10 with the toe construction 22 of the present inventionmay be knit on any conventional circular knitting machine with the welt12, afterwelt 14, and leg portion 16 being knit with a circular motion,the heel 18 being knit with a reciprocating motion and the foot portion20 being knit with a circular motion and terminating in the circularouter end 24.

When the foot portion 29 has been knit with sheer yarn to outer end 24the knitting machine is clutched into a reciprocating motion withoutchanging the yarn to reciprocally knit the top extension 30 on theneedles corresponding to the top half 26 of the outer end 24 of the footportion, using the same sheer yarn as in the foot portion to provide theappearance of a continuation thereof and with a progressive dropping ofneedles to form side edges 32 having held loops for subsequent knittingwith the run barrier and to initiate the shaping of the demi-toe towardthe tip of the stocking. When the top extension 30 has been knit to anouter edge 34 the knitting machine is clutched back into circular motionto knit a plurality of courses around the toe to the side edges 32 andouter edge 34 of the top extension 36 and to the bottom half 28 of theouter end 24 of the foot portion, forming the relatively short gorelines 44 as the loops are picked up from the needles that wereprogressively dropped during knitting of the top extension 30. Thesecircularly knit courses are knit with the sheer yarn of the foot portion20 and with a heavier toe yarn in a tuck or lock stitch to form therun-resistant barrier portion 36.

The run resistant barrier portion 36 may be of any conventional knitconstruction such as that disclosed in u) the US. patent to Bellman, No.2,887,860, issued May 26, 1959. This invention is not limited to anyparticular type of knit construction for the run resistant barrier andany other convenient knit constructions may be used.

When the courses of the run-resistant barrier portion 36 have been knitthe knitting machine is clutched into reciprocating motion for knittingon the needles corresponding to the top segment 38 of the run-resistantbarrier portion 36 using a heavy yarn of the barrier portion without thelighter yarn of the top extension. This reciprocating motion continueswhile needles are progressively dropped to hold loops and to form thetop portion 46 with side edges 48 tapering toward the tip of thestocking. The outer edge of the top portion 46 is not easilydiscernible, but is indicated by line 50 in FIG. 2.

When the tip of the demi-toe is reached the reciprocating motioncontinues while progressively picking up the loops that were held in theprevious knitting to form the bottom portion 52 with side edges 54 knitto the side edges 48 of the top portion 46 and with the side segments 40of the run-resistant barrier portion 36, thereby forming the gore lines58, which are located outwardly of the run-resistant barrier 36 with theresult that runs beginning in these gore lines 58 are prevented by therun-resistant barrier 36 from progressing into the foot portion 20 ofthe stocking 10.

The reciprocating motion continues until the rearward edge 56 is knit,at which time the stocking is removed from the knitting machine and thetoe closed in any conventional manner, such as on a looping machine,thereby completing the stocking construction.

It should be noted that, although in the embodiment illustrated thelooper line 60 is at the bottom of the stocking, the reverseconstruction could be employed as well, wherein the bottom portion 52would be knit with the bottom segment 42 of the run-resistant barrier 36and the top portion 46 would be attached to the top segment 38 of therun-resistant barrier 36 by a similar looper line.

In one example of a stocking incorporating the toe construction of thepresent invention the welt and afterwelt portions are knit with 50denier 17 filament nylon yarn .and the leg and foot portions are knitwith denier monofilament nylon yarn. The top extension is knit with thesame 15 denier monofilament nylon yarn for 38 courses. The run-resistantbarrier 36 is knit with both the 15 denier monofilament nylon yarn and adenier 13 filament nylon yarn for an area of 12 courses with a runresist portion of 6 courses. The top portion 46 and bottom portion 52are knit with the 40 denier l3 filament nylon yarn for 136 courses, 38courses for the top portion and 98 courses for the bottom portion. Toprovide material for looping, an after toe portion of 12 courses of 40denier l3 filament nylon yarn is knit at the rearward edge 56 of thebottom portion 52 and 24 courses of 100/2 cotton yarn are knit to thebottom segment 42 of the run-resistant barrier 36.

It should be understood that the above mentioned nylon after toe andcotton courses are provided merely to facilitate looping and, therefore,constitute part of the means of closing the toe, and, although thesecourses are not specified in the description of the preferred embodimentor in the claims, it is understood that the use of these courses iswithin the scope of the present invention and appended claims. Thepresent invention has been described above for purposes of illustrationonly and is not intended to be limited by this description or otherwiseexcept as defined in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. A method of knitting a toe construction on the outer end or the footportion of a circularly knit sheer stocking comprising reciprocallyknitting an integral continuation of the foot portion from the top ofsaid outer end while progressively dropping needles at the sides of thecontinuation to hold loops thereat, circularly knitting a plurality ofcourses of run-resistant stitches around said continuation and the outerend of the foot portion below said continuation while picking up saidheld loops from the progressively dropped needles at the sides of thecontinuation, and reciprocally knitting a closed-end tip portion fromsaid circularly knit stitches to form the tip of the toe, with therun-resistant courses preventing runs that develop in said tip portionfrom progressing into the foot portion.

2. A method of knitting a toe construction on the outer end of the footportion of a circularly knit sheer stocking comprising reciprocallyknitting an integral continuation of the foot portion from the top ofsaid outer end while progressively dropping needles at the sides of thecontinuation to hold loops thereat, circularly knitting a plurality ofcourses of run-resistant stitches around said continuation and the outerend of the foot portion below said continuation while picking up saidheld loops from the prgressively dropped needles at the sides of thecontinuation, thereby forming relatively short gore lines along thesides of the continuation extending only to the runresistant courses atthe end of the continuation, and reciprocally knitting a closed-end tipportion from said circularly knit stitches to form the tip of the toe,with the run-resistant courses preventing runs that develop in said tipportion from progressing into the foot portion.

3. A method of knitting a toe construction on the outer end of the footportion of a circularly knit sheer stocking comprising reciprocallyknitting an integral continuation of the foot portion from the top ofsaid outer end while progressively dropping needles at the sides of thecontinuation to hold loops thereat, circularly knitting a plurality ofcourses of run-resistant stitches around said continuation and the outerend of the foot portion below said continuation while picking up saidheld loops from the progressively dropped needles at the sides of thecontinuation, thereby forming relatively short gore lines along thesides of the continuation extending only to the runresistant courses atthe end of the continuation; reciprocally knitting a top portion fromthe run-resistant stitches at the end of the continuation to the tip ofthe toe while progressively dropping needles at the sides of the topportion to hold loops thereat, and reciprocally knitting a bottomportion from the tip of the toe to the run-resistant stitches at thebottom of the foot portion while picking up the held loops at the sidesof the top portion and the stitches of the run-resistant courses at thesides of said continuation, thereby forming gore lines at the junctureof the sides of the bottom portion with the run-resistant portions andwith the sides of the top portion, said last mentioned gore lines beingoutwardly of the run-resistant courses with said run-resistant coursespreventing runs that develop in the top and bottom portions and in saidlast mentioned gore lines from progressing into the foot portion of thestocking.

4. A toe construction for a circularly knit sheer stocking comprising anintegral continuation of the sheer foot portion of the stockingextending from the top of the outer end of the foot portion into the toeand having sides tapering toward the tip of the toe with loops whichwere held thereat, a plurality of courses of run-resistant stitchesextending around the toe and connected to said foot portion continuationand to the outer end of the foot portion below said continuation, therun-resistant stitches being connected to the loops which were held toform relatively short gores lines extending only to the run-resistantcourses at the end of the continuation, a top portion connected to therun-resistant stitches at the end of the foot portion continuation andtapering to the tip of the toe with loops which were held along thesides thereof, and a bottom portion connected to said top portion at thetip of the toe and extending rearwardly to the runresistant stitches atthe end of the foot portion below the foot portion continuation andhaving sides connected to the loops which were held at the top portionsides and to the run-resistant stitches at the sides of the foot por- 5tion continuation, thereby forming gore lines extending outwardly fromthe run-resistant courses with said runresistant courses preventing runsthat develop in said last mentioned gore lines from progressing into thefoot portion of the stocking.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 976,555 11/10Costello 66-172 1,981,315 11/34 Goodman 2241 2,033,647 3/36 Quinn 66-4726 2,297,805 10/42 Smetana 66-172 2,629,995 3/53 Hamilton 66-172 X2,887,860 5/59 Bellman 66-172 3,052,110 9/62 Heggie 66-472 5 FOREIGNPATENTS 730,830 6/55 Great Britain. 881,077 11/61 Great Britain.

10 RUSSELL C. MADER, Primary Examiner.

1. A METHOD OF KNITTING A TOE CONSTRUCTION ON THE OUTER END OF THE FOOTPORTION OF A CIRCULARLY KNIT SHEER STOCKING COMPRISING RECIPROCALLYKNITTING AN INTEGRAL CONTINUATION OF THE FOOT PORTION FROM THE TOP OFSAID OUTER END WHILE PROGRESSIVELY DROPPING NEEDLES AT THE SIDES OF THECONTINUATION TO HOLD LOOPS THEREAT, CIRCULARLY KNITTING A PLURALITY OFCOURSES OF RUM-RESISTANT STITCHES AROUND SAID CONTINUATION AND THE OUTEREND OF THE FOOT PORTION BELOW SAID CONTINUATION WHILE PICKING UP SAIDHELD LOOPS FROM THE PROGRESSIVELY DROPPED NEEDLES AT THE SIDES OF THECONTINUATION, AND RECIPROCALLY KNITTING A CLOSED-END TIP PORTION FROMSAID CIRCULARLY KNIT STITCHES TO FORM THE TIP OF THE TOE, WITH THERUM-RESISTANT COURSES PREVENTING RUNS THAT DEVELOPE IN SAID TIP PORTIONFROM PROGRESSING INTO THE FOOT PORTION.